Re: Mystery Tree?
- Subject: Re: Mystery Tree?
- From: Tony and Moira Ryan t*@xtra.co.nz
- Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 10:41:33 +1200
Vavourakis wrote:
>
> I was taking a walk this morning (Easter Eve here in Greece) and came across a
> pair of beautiful trees growing wild on the banks of a creek here in
> Penteli/Melissia area. They appear to be fruit trees of some type and couldn't
> be fuller of spring blossoms (pale pink, scented, about 3-4 cm across,
> 5-petaled.) Leaves are pointed oval. The new leaf growth is sage green and
> felted, the older leaves fragile, soft green and downy on the backs.
This sounds very much like a quince tree from your description! The very
soft pale green (when new) leaves and the large blossoms (do they appear
quite spiral as buds?) are typical. The growth may be twiggy and
interlacing.
"Botanica" says this:
"Quince, Sidonia oblongata, a spreading, bushy tree of 12-15 feet
(3.5-4.5 meters), this species forks low into crooked limbs. The leaves
are moderately large, deep green above but downy on the underside and on
young twigs. The very attractive flowers, about 2" (5cm) in diameter and
usually a clear pale pink, appear in late spring. The fruit, eaten
cooked, ripen to pale or deep yellow and are up to 6" (15cm) long with
hard flesh. The common quince is intolerant of summer humidity. Zones
6-9."
We have two such quinces ourselves. They took a long time to start
producing fruit, although they blossomed to some extent early. Both now
produce a reasonable amount of fruit, quite as much as we can cope with,
as they are not something like applles that one eats daily without a
thought!
Raw quince fruits, as the book says, are hard as rocks! The taste is
pleasant, but a trifle strong to eat alone. We most commonly eat them
stewed, together with stewed apple (the quinces need a little longer
cooking than the apples). We also bottle some to eat in winter (also
with apple). Another use we make of the fruits is to cook and vitamise
them, and then make "fruit leathers" in our dehydrator. These are later
chopped up and form part of a dried fruit mixture which we add to
porridge or muesli breakfasts.
A useful, but fairly uncommon fruit tree.
Tony
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
